Samuel Martin: Have you always known deep down in your inner most being that spanking your children is wrong?

 

Note: One of the sick legacies of the Worldwide Church of God/Armstrongism is its teaching on spanking which was, at times, blatant child abuse. "Spare the rod and spoil the child" was the excuse that the diehard legalists and abusers used to justify the beatings they did on children. This is also the same mentality that led Rod Meredith to constantly talk about God "spanking" the world. For some reason, the church and many of its ministers took a perverse pleasure in wanting to see people and the world punished. 

Samuel Martin (son of the late Earnest Martin) has been vocal advocate on stopping this abuse. Now living Jerusalem, Israel, Martin has written several books that are widely known for their stance on the issue of spanking.

Samuel sent in the following:

Have you always known deep down in your inner most being that spanking your children is wrong?

Do you feel a connection to other Christian mothers who have said things like this concerning spanking their children?

* "I would just get an ache in my chest or a feeling" (Quotation - Lelia Schott)

* "It just felt wrong to me …"

* "I did not listen to my heart …"

* "but something just felt wrong … "

* "I have always felt an almost visceral reaction at the mention of spanking"

Have you been told: 'You are too sensitive!"

Have you felt uncomfortable in your own body based on what you know is the truth?

Have you been told never ever to listen to or trust you internal intuitive leadings?

Have you ever been told that there is something wrong with you because you feel it is wrong to hit your child?

Have you felt conflicted internally about what your inner most being is telling you compared to what you have learned from the Bible about spanking children?

If you have felt this tug of war of internal leadings compared to external information from the Bible, this new book may help answer some of the questions you may have about your internal inner most being and what is teaches you compared to the teachings of the Word of God.

What are Christian mothers saying about this book?

The reviews for this book are very humbling. Here are a few of the five star reviews from Amazon:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and difficult to put down!

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2020

Verified Purchase

 

I am not even completely through this book but it is a page turner for sure. I am about 3/4 of the way through it. I am a mother and was intrigued to read this as I've felt from a very young age that mothers were given intuition by God to lead, guide, and care for their young. What has me floored is how much scripture actually does point to this beautiful truth that I've known to be true. The author has done a wonderful job of bringing these verses to light!

Been blessed by Samuel Martins books!

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2020

Verified Purchase

Samuel Martin's first Thy Rod and thy Staff book was the first gentle parenting book I read and it was like a breath of fresh air. I've always felt like there was something wrong with so many Christians using scriptures to say that the Bible tells us to spank. When I came across that book everything made so much sense. Samuel Martin is very thorough and explains things from a biblical perspective in great detail. This book has been a huge blessing as well and it has made me feel more confident in following those God given instincts as a wife and mother. May God bless the Author and may God bless others with the teachings in this book!

Maternal wisdom comes from God

Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2020

This book uses an in depth look at the Hebrew roots of scripture to reveal that God really did create our intuitions to guide us. The author shares examples from the experiences of real life mothers parenting

their children following God's leading in their hearts. He also debunks the idea that we should ignore our motherly desire to protect our children and use spanking to discipline anyway. God created those maternal instincts and declared them good! As a mother, it is validating to be seen and heard. Godly discipline without spanking is not only possible, it is beautiful and it is biblical. Thank you for writing this book!

If you want to learn more about this book, check it out on Amazon:

Thy Rod and Thy Staff They Comfort Me - Book III: A Biblical Study on Maternal Intuition and its link to the Issue of Spanking Children

Praying that it blesses you. 

Samuel Martin
www.biblechild.com 

Spare Not The Rod: Beat Them Into Submission?

Samuel Martin has written two books recently.  One is on spanking and the other is on The Mark of Cain.  Samuel is the son of Ernest Martin.  Earnest Martin has to be one of Armstrongism's more intelligent men who when he left the fold made a name for himself in the the archeology and Biblical community. His books and writings have been widely read and quoted.

Samuel was also a child of the Worldwide Church of God and was impacted by spanking.  He was around when Garner Ted came out with his Child Rearing book.  For some church kids their  lives  soon became a living hell.

When Carn Catherwood, fresh out of Ambassador College, was appointed to Cincinnati as pastor, he came in spouting Ted's and HWA's decrees as dogma.  Catherwood had no kids of his own at that time, yet told older members how they should be disciplining their children.

He soon had the Spokesmen Clubs making one inch thick paddles about 16 inches long.  He had them drill holes though the paddles to cut down wind resistance.  He instructed parents from the pulpit that when their children misbehaved they were to be taken immediately to the restroom and spanked.  20 swats was the required number to give.  He also expected to hear the child cry, even if it was during his sermon.  You would see children hugging their parents as they were being taken out for swats yelling, "Please Daddy NO! Please don't spank me!"

Samuel has a web site up and a blog where he has information on why spanking was NOT used by early Christians and was also not a thing that was done by Jews.


Samuel writes:

Fact: The Bible does not teach that spanking a child will save him from Hell.

Fact: The Bible does not teach that spanking a child should bring tears.

Fact: In Bible times, the texts concerning spanking children found in Proverbs were not applied to young children under the age of about 10 years!

Fact: Many respected Christian theologians including St. Augustine, Dr. Karl Barth and Rev. Dwight Moody rejected spanking children.

Fact: Many Biblically conservative Jewish Rabbis, who have the Old Testament as their Holy Scripture, reject spanking children today.

Fact: The main Christian advocates for spanking children now are not usually trained Christian theologians teaching in universities, but most often are conservative fundamentalist Christian pastors, Christian politicians, Christian psychologists, lay church members and Christian school leaders.

Fact: Well meaning Christian advocates of spanking children have developed doctrines surrounding what they believe the Bible teaches about spanking children which are not found in the Bible at all.

Fact: Well meaning Children's Rights activists, who are not trained Bible scholars, have entered this debate attacking the Bible with disastrous results.

His to web sites are:  Christians and the Spanking Controversy
 and Blog:  Samuel Martin Blog